Eros and Psyche
by Rachpop
Summary: "Then she calls the west wind, who whips them away, and she, herself, invisible, whispers to them that none but love knows the secret of love, that believing is seeing."


For pallet town

* * *

**Eros and Psyche**

As a part of his upbringing, and part of his fathers plan, N had learned of the ancient myths of God Pokemon creating children with humans and then those children growing up and slaying powerful pokemon such as a Gardevior with the hair of a Tangela and could turn any man to stone with a single glance, or a Hydreigon who, when one head was cut off, grow three more in its place.

These stories reinforced Ghetsis' teachings that humans and pokemon should be separated. Plus they highlighted many flaws that humans possessed. Pride, vanity, greed, anger, envy; the list went on and on.

Ghetsis would not let N near the stories where both parties were alluded to have a happy ending. Whole sections of text had been blacked out or ripped out the books that served as learning materials for N. As N questioned his father on these anomalies, he was met with the same answer every time.

"The book, being very old, is the most accurate copy of the ancient myths. As such, there are no accurate reproductions in publication right now."

And so, N grew without learning of such tales as Eros and Pysche until he met the one who would eventually rival his white dragon with her black.

Now, Ghetsis' plan began to fall apart from the very first battle the two had, before any had conquered any gyms, and their ferris wheel ride, though awkward, allowed for the girl further get N to trust her, as he had to trust her enough to reveal his identity as the king of Team Plasma. Yet everyone knows that. This part of the story takes place in a cave north of Driftveil and south of Mistralton. A cave where pokemon resembling gears thrive from the electrical charges that are given off by the strange blue rocks that occasionally levitate towards one another.

N had been awaiting her arrival, and when the Shadow Triad brought her it would suffice to say that he had Butterfrees in his stomach. This was a Trainer whose understanding of pokemon was one that rivaled his own and yet she couldn't talk with them like he could. Also a sandwich made from tofu slowpoke tail but that wasn't the issue this time.

"Hey N. Do you think you could just let me go this way as I was planning to without having your ninjas randomly appear and drag me over here anyway?"

Her smile was filled with a sort of playfulness that came from knowing a friend well enough to poke fun at the way that some things are done.

"Ah, yes. That was the Shadow Triad, just now. Ghetsis enlisted them in Team Plasma. Apparently, they were the ones who prepared the Galvantula nest at the cave entrance."

Not exactly the answer Touko was expecting, but she had gotten used to N practically skirting around her teasing. N then asked a question.

"Touko, do you have a dream of your own?"

After taking a moment to get over both the shock of a simple question and determining her answer, Touko responded with a nod.

"You have a dream... That's wonderful."

One pokemon battle later, with which to N's surprise he lost, Touko asked him a question that would derail his train of thought for a good while.

"N, have you heard of Eros and Psyche?"

An innocent, if rather unexpected question.

"Of course. Eros is the son of Ares and Aphrodite and whose Roman equivalent is Cupid. Psyche is the mental or psychological structure of a person."

Touko shook her head.

"No, no. I'm talking about the story of Eros and Psyche."

N was confused.

"Story?"

Touko looked at him with the gaze she uses in a pokemon battle: one that analyzes and pinpoints where to strike and with what move. Only it was lessened in a way, as though she was attempting to see if N was lying. Eventually, she spoke:

"You really don't know, do you?"

N shook his head. Touko then reached into her bag and pulled out a book. N recognized the title, for it was the same book his father had used to teach N of the ancient myths when he was younger.

"My friend Bianca, the blonde with the green hat, gave this to me in Nimbasa. She said that she was inspired by the Nacrene Museum and Studio Castelia to learn more about the past and its myths. She told me that she wanted to share some of her excitement with Cheren and myself, so she got the two of us a copy each of this book. It has a decent amount of the ancient myths, and all of the pages are good enough condition for having sat in my bag for a desert, two cities, a few bridges, and a riverside path."

N stared at the book in Touko's hands. His father must've been mislead. Or he had gone to the bookstore where they had run out of copies of the book. Touko then moved to open the book, and N unconsciously moved closer as the pages fell and revealed the story she had been referring to, as though she had read this story many times in the short while she had been possession of the book. Her mouth began to move as she read, sounds barely escaping her lips long enough for N to hear the story unfold, even as Touko occasionally got tongue tied, the story of the beautiful princess who was to be cursed by the Goddess of Love to form a passion with someone whom was quite undesirable, simply because the princess was so beautiful.

But Eros had messed up, because he had been startled by the princess, and scratched himself with the dart meant for the princess. This was how the God of love had fallen in love with the mortal. They had been wed, though her parents thought him a monster to whom they sacrificing their daughter to. Eventually, because the princess could not see her husband, she asked if her sisters could visit. Her sisters, in their envy of their sister and her home, told her that she had in fact wed a monster and she sent her sisters away. But she had grown concerned. So that night Psyche waited until her husband was asleep, took a lamp, and looked upon her husband. Se went to kiss his cheek, but hot oil from the lamp fell and hit his shoulder, waking him up. Eros left the castle, with Psyche chasing after him, but as soon as they were gone from the courtyard, psyche looked behind her and saw the castle the two had lived in had disappeared.

"From that night on she roamed the woods, searching. And some say she still searches the woods and the dark places. Some say that Aphrodite turned her into an owl, who sees best in the dark and cries; 'Who...? Who...?' "Others say she was turned into a bat that haunts old ruins and sees only by night.

"Others say her husband eventually forgave her, finally; that he came back for her and took her up to Olympus, where she helps him with his work of making young love. It is her special task, they say, to undo the talk of the bride's family and the grooms. When mother or sister visit bride or groom and say, 'This, this, this ... that, that, that ... better look for yourself; seeing's believing, seeing's believing.' Then she calls the west wind, who whips them away, and she, herself, invisible, whispers to them that none but love knows the secret of love, that believing is seeing."

Touko then closed the book, and N knew that the story had concluded. N noticed that he and Touko had moved closer together, yet neither of them had attempted to fix this, as though it was a problem that was good. N cleared his throat and reached to rub the back of his neck,

"So, why did you ask me if I heard of that story?"

Touko turned her head to look at him. Her calculating gaze swept over him twice, then deciding that there were some things even N could not figure out without help, she responded,

"The bond that trainers and their pokemon have is based on love and trust, much like a human relationship. And like a human relationship, you can't just see everything with a single glance. You have to actually form that bond to know just what is transpiring between the two parties. And in order to form that kind of bond, you have to believe that it can exist, because believing is seeing."

She then paused, and her gaze glazed over, as if her mind was a million miles away.

"Touko?"

N then put his hand on her shoulder, and gently moved it.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about how you view trainers."

A small pause, then she continued.

"When I battle with my pokemon, I can feel us growing closer. Some battles I don't even speak and my trust in them is so strong they already know what I was planning to do at the exact moment I think of it."

Touko's voice faltered a bit at the end, as though she knew she was not going to convince N of a bond between humans and pokemon with just herself as an example.

"So you do understand that you've been chosen to battle against me as a Hero and determine the fate of Unova?"

Touko's voice then lost all weakness that had previously ensnared it. Though the volume was comfortable for an indoor conversation, it rang with a power that only a trainer who had the potential to defeat a regions champion could posses.

"Yes."

The power of her voice radiated throughout her body, as though the dragon opposing N's truth had already connected to her.

The Shadow Triad gave N a signal, he then proceeded to say farewell to Touko and he left the cave, leaving her to be bombarded with questions from her friend in the green hat and the regions professor.

* * *

Nobody talks about Chargestone Cave enough.

There might be a second part to this. If I get around to finish writing it out then typing it into my computer.

The story of Eros and Pysche I got from my cope of heroes, gods, and monsters of the greek myths


End file.
